Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) SVP Vijay Bhasin Sells 14,175 Shares

Key Points

• Essent Group SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares at $70 each for approximately $992,250 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his direct ownership by 7.14% to 184,274 shares.
• Essent reported quarterly earnings of $2.08 per share on $362.69 million in revenue, while analysts expect $7.42 in full-year EPS. The company also declared a $0.35 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.0% yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $71.86, despite several firms raising targets and three analysts assigning “Buy” ratings.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) SVP Vijay Bhasin sold 14,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $992,250.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 184,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,899,180. This trade represents a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Vijay Bhasin also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, August 7th, Vijay Bhasin sold 483 shares of Essent Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $33,810.00.

Essent Group Price Performance

NYSE:ESNT traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $69.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 668,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,320. Essent Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $55.34 and a 52-week high of $70.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The business's 50-day moving average is $64.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.86. The company has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $362.69 million for the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essent Group Ltd. will post 7.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Essent Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ESNT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Essent Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essent Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essent Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $798,836,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essent Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $155,516,000. Renaissancere Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $107,114,521,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,068,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 78.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,180,000 after acquiring an additional 669,577 shares during the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. NYSE: ESNT is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent's insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.

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